RUNNING HEAD: TECHNOLOGY PLAN: KIMBERLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Grant Proposal: Kimberly Elementary School

Whitney R. Langley
University of West Georgia
GRANT PROSAL: KIMBERLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Abstract
The technological gaps that existed at Kimberly Elementary School in Atlanta, Georgia

were determined after data was designed, collected, and analyzed in a previous needs assessment

assignment. Because of a wealth of financial resources, Kimberly staff and students have

abundant access to technology including devices and internet capability, however, it was

determined that Kimberly still needs differentiated professional development for teachers to

properly incorporate technology into practice, and student access to technology outside of the

school setting. The purpose of this paper is to develop a grant proposal that may provide teachers

with adequate professional development and students with access to technology away from the

school.
GRANT PROSAL: KIMBERLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Introduction and Statement of Need

Lucas Oliver Kimberly Elementary School is a Title 1 public school located in southwest

Atlanta, Georgia. Kimberly Elementary is rated as the second highest school in the Atlanta

Public Schools System for transient students as children move in and out of the community

regularly. Serving grades pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, Kimberly currently houses 342

students. 100% of students qualify for free or reduced breakfast and lunch. 99% of the students

are African American and 1% are Hispanic. There is also a high turnover rate of teachers as the

average years of teaching at Kimberly is 1.5 years. Due to these conditions, Kimberly was

designated as a turnaround school gaining this status because of its consistently poor

performance on standardized tests.

Title 1 funds and turnaround school budgeting has provided Kimberly students with so

much technology that it seems overwhelming to staff members. When asked to rate their

comfortability with using technology, staff only felt like they were experts in word processing.

They felt they had no training on innovative practices, so though they used technology daily, it

was for educational gamin for students and to complete administrative tasks. (see appendix a)

50% of the participants answered that they did not use technology for virtual experiences and

70% shared that they had little to no knowledge of simulations. Because of this lack of being

comfortable, the majority of technology is used in planning and collaboration meetings with

peers, not to support student achievement.

After the disaggregation of stakeholder interviews and surveys, two priority needs were

discovered at Kimberly Elementary School, the teachers needed to develop technological

efficiencies, and students needed access to the internet and technologies outside of the school

setting. Because of a high teacher turnover rate and the lack of comradery amongst staff,
GRANT PROSAL: KIMBERLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

technology is not always integrated into lessons daily. This serves as a disadvantage to the

students because of the little exposure to instructional technology.

The second need that this project focuses on is the community’s lack of ability access to

technology. The students who do receive effective technology infused lessons do not have access

to computers outside of the school setting. This too serves as a disadvantage to students as there

is little coherence between the quality of learning at school and the homework that is given to

reinforce the skills. The proposed solution to these needs are to acquire a grant through the NEA

Foundation and to partner with PowerMy Learning, a local organization to aid teachers and

students at Kimberly Elementary School.

Goals and Objectives

This is a high difficulty goal because of the socioeconomic status of the

community. The students have no control over the transient nature of their families so this goal is

more catered to students that have been students at Kimberly for at least one full school year.

This goal will be achieved with the help of the student’s family.

Goals for teacher professional development in using technology

1. By September 2019, each teacher implement at least three skills acquired in target

professional learning programs that supported all levels of technology integration.

According to the needs assessment, teachers at Kimberly had varying levels of

technology integration because they had different levels of skill. These targeted PL sessions will

increase the rigor of instruction for all teachers as they receive support through modeling and

questioning. The school year begins in August so this timeline assumes that one PL will occur
GRANT PROSAL: KIMBERLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

per month that focuses on technology, and that teachers will begin using that knowledge in the

classroom setting by September.

2. By December 2019, teachers will ensure that the parents of each student in his/her

classroom are knowledgeable about affordable internet service options that are available

in the area.

To transform the learning relationships between school and home, communication about

technological innovations is necessary. There is very little parent involvement at Kimberly which

serves as a disadvantage to students because parents rarely know what is going on. It is the role

of the teacher to make sure that these lines of communication stay open to benefit students and

the Kimberly culture.

Goals for School Access to Technology

1. By July 2019, the administrative team will reserve one technology professional learning

session per month for differentiated development of the Kimberly Teachers.

In the needs assessment, teachers shared their beliefs on why technology was not always

included in their learning blocks. Along with the discomfort of use, teachers shared that they did

not have time to attend professional development sessions offered by the district. Before the start

of the academic year, the principal and assistant principal will send out a calendar to staff

members of the days that will be set aside for technology development. The initial PLs will be

led by coaches and the media specialists, while the following sessions will be differentiated and

teacher-led.

2. By December 2019, the GO team will apply for to become a partner school with

PowerMyLearning Inc., a nonprofit organization that triangulates learning relationships

between students, teachers, and families.

GRANT PROSAL: KIMBERLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Because of the high transition rate of the teachers and the community, Kimberly lacks

stability and continually struggles to evolve. Partnering with an outside agent will promote

consistency because the agency will continue to work even if staff members change. This

organization provides technology to students, development for staff, and trainings for parents as

well which will help Kimberly students become lifelong learners.

Methods

The best type of evaluation for this program is the process evaluation. This focuses on the

fidelity of interventions such as the usage of proper strategies, the correct dosage, and any

inefficiencies that hinder the delivery of services (cyfar.org, n.d.). This program will be a newly

established program so I want to focus on examining the proposed outcomes. The types of data

collected to measure teacher effectiveness will be to monitor their online usage of suggested

programs, and to gather feedback surveys similar to the ones collected in the needs assessment.

Evaluation Process

The external evaluators of this project will be Birgitta Johnson, the school’s media

specialist, and Joseph Salley, Kimberly Elementary School’s principal. Not having a direct

connection to the classroom allow these evaluators to have an impartial view of the processes

observed. The following chart is the proposed evaluation process and justification of strategy.

Specific Solutions Strategy to Monitor Justification of Strategy

Increase access to technology The media specialist will Though 100% of students may not
outside of the school setting monitor the number of have technology because of the
teachers who give homework transient nature and economic
assignments on Google status of the community, teachers
Classroom. should still assign work to
students who have access as to not
limit their growth.
GRANT PROSAL: KIMBERLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Develop technological Survey teachers at the end of Teachers are more attentive and
efficiencies amongst staff professional learning sessions implement skills that they deem as
through monthly training to gauge teacher perception relevant and useful in classrooms.
of usefulness. Gathering feedback from teachers
will increase the relevance of
professional learning sessions.

The following questionnaire will be administered to teachers quarterly to compare their

perceptions and practices incorporating technology in their daily lessons after targeted

professional developments have taken place. It is the goal of the proposed lessons to increase the

comfortability and knowledge base of classroom teachers.

Background Information
Grade level taught

Number of years teaching

Teacher Comfortability

Please use the following proficiencies to describe your level of comfortability in using
technologies in your classroom:
1-Unfamiliar 2-Beginner 3- Average 4-Advanced 5-Expert

1 2 3 4 5
Word processing
Laptop
Presentation software (PowerPoint,
Prezi, Nearpod)
Smartboard
Other

Current Technology Usage

How often are teachers at Kimberly Elementary expected to integrate technology into their
instruction?

Typically, how many hours per day are students in your classroom using technology?
GRANT PROSAL: KIMBERLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Technology

How often do you use the following modalities in your classroom?

1- Never 2- Rarely 3-Sometimes 4-Often
1 2 3 4
Classroom instruction
Virtual classroom
Learning games
Simulations
Adaptive technology
Other

Technology
How often do you integrate technology:
1- Never 2- Rarely 3-Sometimes 4-Often
1 2 3 4
In teaching activities
Professional collaboration
Homework assignments
Administrative Tasks

Teacher Perception
How important has Technology been in your teaching?

What is the ideal use, if any, of computer technologies in the classroom?

Perceptions
How important have the following been in your use of technology?
1- Not Applicable 2- No Influence 3-Some Influence 4-Great Influence
1 2 3 4
In- house training opportunities
Off site training opportunities
Experiences from other teachers
The availability of technology
Lessons are planned that require
technology
Other
GRANT PROSAL: KIMBERLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Obstacles
Rate how much the following conditions provide an obstacle for you in making more effective
use of technology in the classroom.
1- Not an obstacle 2- Minor obstacle 3-Major Obstacle

Lack of computers in the classroom

Lack of student access to computers at home
Students lack the skills necessary to efficiently use computers
Not sure how to integrate technology effectively
I do not have enough time to practice the skills
Technology is unpredictable- they do not work properly
The curriculum is intense so I do not have time to make room for technology use
Teachers are not included in the technology decisions
Other:

Budget

The NEA Foundation Learning and Leadership Grants provide schools with professional

development grants for teachers in the amount of $5,000. The duration of this grant will be two

school years spanning from August 2019-May 2021.

Budget Category Amount Description

Printing and Copying $30 Survey forms
2 copies per teacher
100 teacher participants
$0.15/ copy
Presenter incentive $1,125 $25/lesson
5 presenters/ session
9 monthly sessions
PowerMy Learning Inc. $975 annually Provide targeted professional development
to 5 grade level chairs grades (1-5)

Donation to PowerMy $350 Donation to partner program suggested for

Learning Inc. (school providing parents and students access to
edition) home internet.
Total $2,480 annually Two school years $5,000 grant
GRANT PROSAL: KIMBERLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Two Minute Elevator Speech

https://youtu.be/_983Zbb_s_I

Above is the direct link to my two minute elevator speech.

Grant Agency Guidelines

In order to apply for any NEA grant, the lead applicant must be a member of the

organization. Proposals must include a partner, in this proposal the partner is PowerMy Learning.

SUMMARY

In 100 words or fewer, give a summary of the project you’re proposing. Write in a way that
you’d feel comfortable with the NEA Foundation sharing on our website to describe your
project. (For examples of how to write a summary, please view our Grantee Archive for
descriptions of our recently funded grants.)

In a world where students do not know a world without technology existed, it’s unreal that

technology is not accessible in their homes, nor infused into every lesson. This project aims to

address both of these obstacles. By partnering with PowerMy Learning Inc., lead teachers will be

provided with professional development that they will redeliver to their colleagues at monthly

learning sessions. This organization also works with the community by providing laptops to

every student that they are allowed to take home. Having this access will allow for more

coherence between the quality of learning at school and the homework that reinforces skills.

GOALS

Describe your project. What are your goals for student learning? How will you measure
outcomes?
GRANT PROSAL: KIMBERLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

1. By May, 2021, students will acquire basic technology skills including, but not limited to,

keyboarding, demonstrating the ability to complete research projects, creating

presentations using teacher selected interfaces, and the ability to navigate web pages.

2. By December 2019, the GO team will apply for to become a partner school with

PowerMyLearning Inc., a nonprofit organization that triangulates learning relationships

between students, teachers, and families.

NEED

What are the student needs for this project? Prioritize academic need, but you should describe
sociological, economic, emotional, and/or cultural issues as well.

Lucas Oliver Kimberly Elementary School is a Title 1 public school located in southwest

Atlanta, Georgia. Kimberly Elementary is rated as the second highest school in the Atlanta

Public Schools System for transient students as children move in and out of the community

regularly. Serving grades pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, Kimberly currently houses 342

students. 100% of students qualify for free or reduced breakfast and lunch. 99% of the students

are African American and 1% are Hispanic. There is also a high turnover rate of teachers as the

average years of teaching at Kimberly is 1.5 years. Due to these conditions, Kimberly was

designated as a turnaround school gaining this status because of its consistently poor

performance on standardized tests.

NEED CAUSES CONSEQUENCES DIFFICULTY TO

CORRECT (LOW,
MEDIUM, HIGH)
GRANT PROSAL: KIMBERLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

High teacher turnover -technology not Medium- finding a

rate integrated into teacher to lead the
Develop lessons workshop is low,
technological expert “techies” did not however Kimberly has a
efficiencies volunteer to lead -students are at a low teacher retention
amongst staff workshops further disadvantage rate leaving the school in
through training because of little a constant state of
no trainings offered exposure to revision
technology
Socioeconomic status of Students are High
community disadvantaged
Increase access
to technology Lack of transportation Kimberly stays on
outside of the to local libraries turnaround list
school setting
No computer/internet
access at home

BUDGET

Provide a line item budget for the proposed work. Your request must total either $2,000 or
$5,000. Identify any additional support (cash or in-kind) from other sources, including that
provided by your school/district/college/university. Your budget must be in the form of a Word,
Excel, or PDF document.

The NEA Foundation suggests that your budget be as cost-efficient as possible. Please ensure
that all items are directly related to your proposed work, as your budget will be assessed by how
realistic, clear, and frugal it is.

Budget Category Amount Description

Printing and Copying $30 Survey forms
2 copies per teacher
100 teacher participants
$0.15/ copy
Presenter incentive $1,125 $25/lesson
5 presenters/ session
9 monthly sessions
PowerMy Learning Inc. $975 annually Provide targeted professional development
to 5 grade level chairs grades (1-5)
GRANT PROSAL: KIMBERLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Donation to PowerMy $350 Donation to partner program suggested for

Learning Inc. (school providing parents and students access to
edition) home internet.
Total $2,480 annually Two school years $5,000 grant
GRANT PROSAL: KIMBERLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Appendix A: Needs Assessment Survey Results

GRANT PROSAL: KIMBERLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Different Types of Evaluation. (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2019, from https://cyfar.org/different-types-
evaluation#Process